This process lasted a full two hours. Xu Chunniang drank an entire bottle of Spirit Dew dry.
She could clearly feel the spiritual energy accumulating in her dantian growing ever more abundant, nearly breaking through some kind of barrier.
"Now!"
Xu Chunniang took a deep breath, picked up the second bottle of Spirit Dew, and tipped back her head to drink more than half of it. Once she felt spiritual energy flooding every part of her body, she closed her eyes, cast away all distractions, and devoted herself to circulating the Carefree Art.
Who knew how long passed? When Xu Chunniang had absorbed every last trace of spiritual power within her, she heard an exceedingly faint tremor, as though something were breaking through the earth.
The next instant, a pure and powerful surge of spiritual power erupted from her dantian. As her cultivation technique circulated, it flowed throughout her body, nourishing her meridians...
Xu Chunniang slowly opened her eyes. Feeling the spiritual energy within herself, a trace of delight appeared in her eyes. "I broke through—the third level Qi Condensation!"
Comparing her current spiritual power with what she had possessed before, Xu Chunniang could tell that the spiritual energy in her body was now nearly double its previous amount!
Once she reached the peak of the third level Qi Condensation, her spiritual energy could double again from its current foundation!
"No wonder they say the ranks among cultivators are strict. Few possess the ability to fight across realms. Between every two levels of the Qi Condensation stage, the difference in spiritual energy is nearly severalfold. The more spiritual energy one has, the more powerful the techniques one can cast."
Feeling the unprecedented abundance of spiritual energy inside her, Xu Chunniang took a deep breath. This sensation of growing stronger little by little was far too addictive.
She took a moment to calm herself, then drank Spirit Dew and began consolidating her cultivation.
After breaking through, Xu Chunniang needed even more spiritual energy while cultivating. The Spirit Dew contained ample spiritual power and was still useful to her, but she consumed it twice as fast as before.
Previously, a bottle and a half of Spirit Dew could support Xu Chunniang's cultivation for two days. Now, in just one day, she absorbed an entire bottle dry.
After finishing the Spirit Dew, Xu Chunniang took out the two bottles of "reserves" from her Storage Bag. She had condensed these bottles of Spirit Dew a week ago, and a quarter of their spiritual power had already dissipated, leaving only three-quarters of what they once contained.
Xu Chunniang did not disdain them and drank the two bottles of Spirit Dew.
Only after using up all the Spirit Dew did her cultivation finally stabilize.
Xu Chunniang opened her eyes, a thoughtful look appearing in them.
Among this batch of new disciples, she ought to be the first to reach the third level Qi Condensation.
Her cultivation was sufficient for the time being. Moreover, after every breakthrough, the body needed time to adapt to the new cultivation level, which would make her foundation more solid.
Blindly piling up realms was no more than a castle in the air that could not withstand wind and rain.
According to her plan, she could begin learning techniques next.
With a touch to her Storage Bag, a Jade Slip appeared in Xu Chunniang's hand. It was the Spirit Void Steps.
Compared with the Earth Moistening Technique, which could only assist, she intended to learn the Spirit Void Steps first.
If she mastered the Spirit Void Steps, then even if she encountered a fight and could not defeat her opponent, she could still rely on the footwork to flee.
The spiritual energy in the cave was abundant, but it was too cramped and unsuitable for practicing footwork. Xu Chunniang left the cave and went to the mountain forest where she had once practiced the Spring Growth Technique.
"Send spiritual energy into the legs. Once the energy is full, the footwork can be activated. When using the Spirit Void Steps, one step can cover several zhang... These Spirit Void Steps do not seem difficult. I'll try them first."
After Xu Chunniang had thoroughly memorized the technique, she put away the Jade Slip and began practicing.
As the Spirit Void Steps circulated, spiritual energy from her dantian began pouring continuously into her legs. Soon, a sour, swollen sensation arose in them.
Xu Chunniang sensed the spiritual energy in her legs. "No, it's not enough yet!"
As more and more spiritual energy flowed in, the sour, swollen feeling in her legs gradually faded, replaced by an unbearable itching numbness. Xu Chunniang could not help letting out a soft groan and stopped circulating the Spirit Void Steps.
This numb feeling was almost harder to endure than pain. She could only wait for her body to adapt bit by bit.
After she stopped, the discomfort gradually receded.
Only then did Xu Chunniang understand why far fewer people chose footwork than movement techniques. Footwork was not only harder to learn—it was also extremely unpleasant to cultivate.
Xu Chunniang did not choose the steady, step-by-step method of cultivation. When it came to techniques, she had always been bold and aggressive.
After a brief pause, she gritted her teeth and directly sent several times more spiritual energy into her legs.
At once, Xu Chunniang's body began trembling violently. The intense numbness, swelling, and pain nearly made her unable to stand. She clutched the tree beside her, barely managing not to collapse.
Xu Chunniang's lips trembled. Gritting her teeth, she said word by word, "It's only... this much. I... can endure it."
After enduring the initial discomfort, her legs gradually adapted to the spiritual energy as well.
Xu Chunniang could feel the discomfort slowly fading, while every meridian in her legs became saturated with spiritual energy.
The most obvious change was that her legs had become light yet powerful, as though with the slightest leap, she could cross mountains and rivers!
She controlled her legs and took a forceful step forward!
With that single step, she covered two or three zhang. Yet before she could rejoice, her body lost its balance and toppled backward.
Xu Chunniang fell flat on her back, baring her teeth in pain. "It seems my body needs to adapt slowly before I can master the Spirit Void Steps. Again!"
She pushed herself up, sent spiritual energy into her legs, and took another step. As expected, she fell again.
Xu Chunniang straightened herself and gritted out, "What does this amount to? Again!"
This training lasted a full four months.
At first, every step made her lose balance and fall backward. Later, she could cover three or four zhang in a single step, and her body finally followed the footwork nimbly, even allowing her to adjust according to changes in her surroundings.
In the mountain forest, a green figure raced like wind and lightning. Her footwork seemed both illusory and real, her position shifting unpredictably as she charged toward the densest part of the woods.
Wherever that figure passed, not a single leaf touched her. She had perfectly avoided every tree.
After two incense sticks' worth of time, Xu Chunniang stopped, drenched in sweat. This was the limit of how long she could maintain the Spirit Void Steps.
With the spiritual energy in her body exhausted, Xu Chunniang's face was slightly pale, yet her eyes shone brilliantly, radiant light flowing within them.
She had trained for a full four months, fallen who knew how many times, and knocked over who knew how many trees before reaching this point.
When using the Spirit Void Steps at full power, Xu Chunniang's spiritual power could last for two incense sticks' worth of time. If she were in actual combat and needed to cast other techniques as well, the time she could sustain it would be shorter.
However... those learning the Light Body Technique probably consumed more than twice as much spiritual energy as she did.
A faint smile appeared on Xu Chunniang's face. Having skillfully mastered the Spirit Void Steps, she was confident that even if Qi Haozhi's flying sword were twice as fast, she could evade it.
"The only technique in my hands that I haven't learned is the Earth Moistening Technique. But before that, I'll see whether I can make another breakthrough with the Spirit Blast Technique."
Xu Chunniang consumed Spirit Dew and meditated where she stood. After recovering her spiritual power, she began casting the Spirit Blast Technique, condensing two streams of Wood Spiritual Qi in one breath.
She wanted to see whether she could split two streams of Wood Spiritual Qi at the same time!
Two chapters, delivered!
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